Roughly 49 percent of the more than $470 billion in annual marketing or ad spending in the US is now going to digital channels.

Research firm Outsell just released its Annual Advertising and Marketing Study. Based on a survey of marketers, it outlines traditional and digital media spending trends for 2016. The data come from an online survey of of 1,500 B2B and B2C marketers in the US, across 36 spending categories.

Digital marketing continues to grow, while most traditional media channels are in retreat. Outsell estimates total digital spending in 2016 to be roughly $228 million, or roughly 49 percent of all marketing and advertising in the US.

According to the survey data, the top three marketing channels were websites, TV and email, representing nearly $170 billion of more than $470 billion to be spent in 2016 on marketing or advertising.

Mobile was the category showing the highest percentage year-over-year growth at 38 percent, now representing $23 billion in annual spending. Print newspapers, magazines, directories and direct mail were the traditional media categories showing the largest declines.

Interestingly, corporate websites were the highest-spending channel ($76 billion) and continued to be the primary marketing tool employed by respondents. Websites also claimed the largest share of marketer budgets, at 33 percent.

In addition to mobile, video and social media also saw significant growth. Video came in at $7.5 billion in the forecast, while social (organic and paid) was $33 billion. Paid search advertising, though mature, continued to grow at a healthy rate (13.4 percent) to $23.2 billion for 2016.

About The Author

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.